DESCRIPTION: This week, Erin and Ryan dive into some recent game nights, talk about whether non-gaming topics that affect gamers are legitimate discourse, and then debate the differences in what difficulty means in regards to board games.

We briefly address the notion that’s been circulating on whether or not gaming conversation should include topics that affect gamers in the real world. That is, should gaming talk only be about games.

FEATURED TOPIC – (24:36):

Difficulty in a game is a term thrown around regularly, but while it seems like an obvious definition at first glance, it isn’t as universal once you start parsing it out. We dive into the various components that may go into what makes a game ‘difficult’, including

Iconography

Strategy depth

Complexity

Time Committment

Player Size

Theme

How much of the idea of difficulty is subjective?

What are our preferred difficulty levels?

Can difficulty change over time?

And, ultimately – does the quality of a game coincide with its difficulty?